`Newman' relishes evil roles

September 10, 2005

LOS ANGELES — It could be, Wayne Knight says, that he was born to play comically evil, pompous villains.

"Most people would say no, but the reality is when you get typecast like that there's got to be some germ of something in there," said Knight, best known for his role as malevolent mailman Newman on "Seinfeld." "What happens, I think, is . . . you find something about yourself that you don't like. You exaggerate it, and it's funny."

He did just that as the traitorous scientist who gets eaten by a dinosaur in "Jurassic Park," and in numerous other roles.

"Those characters are like my dark side magnified by a thousand," said Knight, letting loose with a Newman-like laugh.

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